MasterChef finalist Alice Taylor on her sweet adventures through the world of baking

Alice in Cakeland is the cookbook you always wanted but could never find on the bookshop shelves. How do you think it fills this gap?

I wanted this book to consider the cost-of-living crisis by using cheaper kinds of fat and fewer eggs, as well as ensure everything could be made easily with just a bowl and spoon. I feel that one of the best baking books is Edmonds, so I really wanted to make it accessible but also make it beautiful, modern, feminine and girly – when I was a young girl, I would have loved this book.

How did you go from a politics graduate to a chef?

I entered the hospitality world in quite a unique way through being on MasterChef. I had been studying politics at the University of Otago. I was thriving academically, but I was not the happiest. I didn’t understand what my future would be like in that area. Then I got this text from my dad on a Saturday night, when I was out on the streets of Dunedin doing god knows what, and the text said MasterChef was having auditions. Ever since that text, I never looked back. I pulled out of my flat in Dunedin and resigned from my job before I’d even been put on the show, which was a big gamble. But I just had this feeling that I was going to get on. My goal was never winning the show. It was always to try to get a book deal and to get a job in the industry.

What’s your favourite memory from your time on MasterChef NZ?

The friendship that I have with Sam Low is something I really cherish. We were always glued to each other from the start of the competition and were always laughing while filming the show. Honestly, after I made the top 10, I couldn’t believe that I was there, so I just began to love it because whatever happened, I was proud of myself. Meeting Nadia Lim was amazing as well. She was like a rockstar to me as a kid and now she’s my mentor.

You say you don’t make the Ginger Cakes you made in your MasterChef audition any more as that chapter in your life has closed. What recipe signifies the chapter you’re in currently?

My raspberry sour cream cake. I’ve made it a lot recently for my loved ones and it was actually one of the first cakes I made for my partner. It’s so simple and functional. We’ve even taken that exact recipe at Paris Butter in Auckland’s Herne Bay and edited it for a component on its dessert menu. I think that really shows its quality, having been served at a three-hat restaurant [awarded by Cuisine magazine] in New Zealand.

What’s one ingredient you can’t get by without?

Golden syrup. It brings so much flavour and moisture to any baking.

What is your first memory of cooking?

Making a chocolate cake with my mum when I was very, very young. I remember I was on a little stool and I absolutely loved it. That was where my food obsession really began.

Smoked Salmon & Fennel Pie

This recipe uses smoked salmon instead of fresh fish, which reduces any concern around overcooking fresh fish. I was inspired by the flavours of kedgeree, and incorporated fennel because fennel and salmon is a match made in heaven. You can line the base with pastry and blind bake it, but what I love about this pie is how simple it is, so I make it with a pastry top only.

Serves 4-6

SAUCE

PIE

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F) fan-bake.

To make the sauce, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the curry powder and fennel seeds and fry off for 2 minutes, until fragrant. Add the flour and cook off for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, bit by bit.

Reduce the heat to low and cook until thickened, whisking occasionally. Once thick, remove from the heat and stir in the mustard, salt, pepper and spinach. Allow to cool slightly as you prepare the rest of the components.

Add oil to a large pan and fry off the fennel and onion with salt and pepper. Combine the sauce with the fried fennel and onion.

To make the pie, chop the eggs in half. In a dish at least 2.5cm deep, flake the smoked salmon and lay the halved eggs on top. Pour over the sauce.

Place the pastry over the top and crimp with a fork. Cut a hole in the pastry and decorate as wished. Brush with egg wash and season with salt.

Bake for about 30 minutes, or until golden and the pastry is cooked.

Allow to sit for about 10 minutes, then serve.

Ginger Cakes with Nashi Pears, Vanilla Crème Fraîche & Walnut Brittle

I cooked this in my audition for MasterChef and it changed my life. It made me believe that I was a good baker, and that I understood flavour and balance. It must, must, must be eaten fresh and warm from the oven. It’s sort of a hybrid between cake and pudding. The components I serve it with, especially the syrup from the nashi pears that soak into the cake, elevate the dessert.

Serves 4

CAKES

ORANGE AND MAPLE CARAMELISED NASHI PEARS

WALNUT BRITTLE

CRÈME FRAÎCHE

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) fan-bake. Grease 4x10cm mini cake tins and line with baking paper.

Melt the butter, grated ginger and syrups together in a small saucepan over a medium heat until the butter is completely melted and a few bubbles form. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool slightly.

In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, salt, mixed spice, ground ginger and nutmeg until combined. Set aside.

In a separate small bowl, whisk the egg and cream until combined. Pour the butter mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour in the cream mixture and whisk until just combined. Pour into the prepared cake tins.

Bake for 13-16 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean. When the cakes are cooked, remove from the oven. Turn out after 5 minutes.

To make the caramelised pears, brown the butter in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Once it has browned, add oil. Add the nashi pears in an even layer over the pan. Cook until browned and caramelised on both sides. Remove from the pan.

To the same pan add and whisk together the remaining ingredients. Return the pears to the pan. Simmer on a low heat for around 10 minutes, until the pears are tender and the syrup has reduced.

To make the brittle, line a baking tray. In a small saucepan, add the sugar and enough cold water to make a wet sand consistency. Place on a medium heat and cook until the sugar turns into a syrup, then a golden caramel. Do not stir the caramel – just swirl the pan if needed. If any sugar sticks to the sides, use a wet pastry brush to brush those crystals away. Remove from the heat and stir in the walnuts and butter with a wooden spoon. Pour onto the prepared tray to cool.

Once cooled, break up into medium-sized pieces, and either chop roughly or pulse in a food processor until the praline resembles a chunky crumble.

Add all the crème fraîche ingredients to a bowl and beat with an electric beater until very thick and creamy. Place in a container and scrape it up against one side. This allows you to spoon a nice quenelle at the end. Keep in the fridge.

To serve, place each cake slightly off-centre on a plate. Lay nashi pears around one side of each cake and spoon over some extra drizzle. Sprinkle the brittle next to the pears and place a spoonful of crème fraîche over each cake. Use a hot dry spoon if you want a quenelle. Garnish with extra orange and lemon zest.

An edited extract from Alice in Cakeland by Alice Taylor (Allen & Unwin, $45).